BY ORDER OF THE CZAR. 31
They who made this refuge were thoughtful of their fugi- tives and of their lives ; follow me."
The old man, handing Ferrari the lamp, proceeded to descend the well, not with the aid of rope or bucket, but by steps which he sought with his feet while clinging to the side. He knelt down, then feet foremost literally went into the well. His head resting upon the coping stone, he said : " Thou wilt feel niches on the right and left for thy feet ; the water would not drown thee if thou wert to fall, which is impossible ; Deborah descended yesterday ; lower thyself by means of the niches for thy feet, and I will con- duct thee further : give me the lamp."
Ferrari, following these instructions, presently entered a small subterranean passage, now lighted by the lamp of his host, who stood upright at the further end, whence a door swung open at his touch, and closed upon them with a spring that seemed to clutch the rock through which the place had been excavated. They were within the outer halls of an immense natural cave, their way marked by stalactite and stalagmite, their footsteps awakening echoes that were accompanied by the distant sound of falling waters.
Suddenly coming to a standstill, Ferrari's guide lifted his lamp high above his head and pointed onward, where streaks of daylight seemed to penetrate the gloom afar off. They paused here to make a turning to the right, through a narrow way, where the darkness was so intense that the lamp fairly blinked at it. Then suddenly they were ob- structed by what appeared to be solid rock. The aged Jew stooped and apparently turned a key, and the next moment a heavy door swung upon its hinges and disclosed a lighted chamber, fairly well furnished, with comfortable rugs and skins, cupboards and cabinets, the latter roughly made but strong and evidently filled with treasures.
" I have made these," said Moses Grunstein, " with my
